The deal, announced Tuesday, would likely benefit by connecting Skype's free, mostly consumer-grade, Internet voice and video service -- used by millions worldwide -- with Microsoft's own Lync UC product for delivering enterprise-grade audio, video, chat and Web conferencing, analysts said.

Even videoconferencing vendor Polycom saw the Skype acquisition as a plus, since Polycom is already a close partner to Microsoft and would benefit from a Lync integration with Skype.

The acquisition "takes Skype out of the competitive equation," said Polycom CEO Andy Miller. "The integration of Lync and Skype is positive for Polycom because the better Lync performs, the greater our opportunity in terms of [selling enterprise quality] video endpoints, software and infrastructure. "

Acquiring Skype "puts Microsoft in a commanding position in the consumer UC-as-a-service market," Forrester Research analyst Henry Dewing .

Dewing noted that Skype's free service has come without guarantees for quality of service free of interruptions that many businesses insist on when they buy Lync and other UC products from , Avaya and others.